Monsoon at Mahabaleshwar

Mahabaleshwar is a very famous hill station in Maharastra, India. It is situated on Sahyadri mountain range. Mahabaleshwar has beautiful natural surroundings and large number of tourist points. 

Hilly surroundings of Mahabaleshwar

We stayed in Mahabaleshwar for 2 days. There are many hotels available for stay, but it is good to select near the market or bus stand.

For sightseeing, we hired a taxi. The taxies have fix rate cards for different tours here. They show you the card and you need to select the tour accordingly. They have special tours only for monsoons also.

On the first day we visited Panchgani, which is famous for its strawberry gardens and Jam - Chocolate factories. We visited Manama and Mapro companies and their gardens. You can taste and buy the products like jams, syrups, squashes, fruit jelly and pulps, etc.

Strawberry garden, Panchgani

Panchgani is also famous for its Table Land point. The place is called table land because there is 4 KM wide flat area, on the top of the hill. 

Table land point, Panchgani

 Then we visited Parsi point, here you can get an excellent view of river Krishna flowing through the wide range of hills, and also its dam.

View from Parsi point, Panchgani

On the other day, we went for local Mahabaleshwar sightseeing. The main points we visited are:

Echo point - A fabulous point over the hill, the view of river and dam, you can hear echo of your voice if you shout loudly, amazing experience.

Echo point, Mahabaleshwar

Elephant's Head point - You can see an elephant's head and trunk shape in the hill, beautiful sight.

Elephant's Head point, Mahabaleshwar

Lingamala falls - You can totally enjoy this place if you be here in monsoon or after monsoon. There are 3 small waterfalls adjacent to each other, a good family picnic point.

Lingmala falls, Mahabaleshwar

Panchaganga Mandir - An ancient temple is dedicated to five sacred rivers namely Krishna, Savitri, Gayatri, Koyna and Venna. All the five rivers together flow out from the Gaumukh, the holy cow's head.

Mahabaleshwar temple - The very big and famous Shiv temple, the shivlinga is believed to be around 500 years old and Swayambhu (Self Oriented). It is in the shape of Rudraksha and it is honoured by the title ‘Mahalingam’. 

Venna lake - The Lake is surrounded by greenery, is a popular hang out at Mahabaleshwar. Numerous amusement activities like boating, fishing and horse riding are available here. Various food stalls and fruit stalls attract tourists.

Venna Lake, Mahabaleshwar

Connaught Peak - It is the second highest point of Sahyadri Mountain Ranges, from here we can get an amazing view of the whole Mahabaleshwar, the Krishna river and its surrounding mountains, and even the clouds running below you. 

View from Connaught Peak, Mahabaleshwar

Babington point - Here you get an excellent view of Koyna Valley and Chinaman's waterfall. 

View from Babington point, Mahabaleshwar